Denise Jackson and her country star husband Alan Jackson have one of the most powerful love stories in country music, dating all the way back to a high school courtship. The couple has stuck with each other through thick and thin, acting as role models for how hard you need to work for true love in order to find a happy ending.
The high school sweethearts married in their hometown of Newnan, Georgia in 1979 at the Newnan Baptist Church. After six years of marriage, the couple moved to Nashville so that Jackson could pursue his dreams. But it was Denise who helped Alan get his start in country music. She ran into Glen Campbell while working as a flight attendant and told him about her musically ambitious husband. The country legend took an interest and helped a young Jackson land a record deal with Arista Records.
Fast forward a few years and Jackson has a successful career as a well-known American country singer and the couple has three daughters, Mattie Denise, Dani Grace and Ali. But in 1998, Jackson had an affair that rocked their relationship, which was already struggling.
“We were just kids when we started out,” Jackson tells People. “We didn’t ever have the chance to fall in love as adults and to learn who you are before making a commitment. I think we lost some of that original feeling. I did anyway.”
